Nightcrawler is engaging upon an acrobatics exercise inside the Danger Room at the Xavier school. Leaping and flipping through a gauntlet of devices, he attempts to hone his physical agility without the benefit of his mutant teleportation powers. From the Danger Room's observation booth, Kitty Pryde and Illyana Rasputin watch Kurt having the time of his life.

Kurt takes a break and regales the girls with a tale concerning the X-Men foe known as the Vanisher, and a strange dimensional wormhole known as the Well at the Center of Time. Kitty attempts to recreate as simulacrum of the Well inside the Danger Room, but inadvertently opens a portal into the well itself. Nightcrawler and Lockheed inspect the alleged simulacrum, when suddenly a large green tentacles stretches outward and grabs hold of Lockheed. Nightcrawler dives into the well after them and they both disappear in a blinding flash of light. Kitty begins frantically working upon a way to find out what has happened to them - and more importantly, how to get them back!

Meanwhile, Nightcrawler and the small purple dragon appear in the skies of an alien dimension. The tentacle that had attacked Lockheed is attached to a giant, green flying squid. Lockheed drives the beast away with a blast of flame, then latches onto Nightcrawler's tail to keep him from falling.

A flying sky-galleon known as the T'ai Javinee arrives and the two are brought on board. The ship is sailing under the command of an alien pirate named Captain Long John McGurk. Long John's crew is astonished to see the two and repeatedly refer to them as a Boggie and a Frumious Bandersnitch. Kurt has no idea what a Boggie is, and Lockheed could care less about being referred to as a Frumious Bandersnitch. They soon befriend Captain McGurk's men and become welcome stowaways aboard the vessel.

Time passes more quickly in this alien realm than it does in the Earth dimension, and while a week passes for Kurt, only several hours have passed for Kitty and Illyana. In that time, Kurt has been having the time of his life, enjoying the adventurous lifestyle of his favorite childhood movie heroes.

Things change however when the T'ai Javinee opens fire on a royal barge from the city of Bel Amee Anora. Kurt cannot condone unprompted violence and tries to convince McGurk to cease hostilities. Long John refuses however, and Kurt finds himself forced to turn against his former allies. He mans one of their cannons and points it at the deck of McGurk's ship. McGurk agrees to leave the Bel Amee Anora alone.

Disenfranchised with the pirates, Kurt and Lockheed teleport over to the Royal Barge. Immediately, the ship’s crew begin shrieking with words of "Boggie" and "Frumious Bandersnatch". Kurt meets the Jinjav (princess) of the vessel, Sabree. Smitten by her looks, he pours on the charm and attempts to court her favor.

The Royal Barge soon docks at the floating island/city of Bel Amee Amora. Nightcrawler and Lockheed explore the streets and alleyways, but soon run upon Captain Long John McGurk. McGurk wants revenge upon the Boggie for betraying him, and his men quickly capture the two.

When Kurt awakens, he finds himself on an altogether different ship. He discovers that McGurk sold Lockheed and he to a sinister shark-faced sorcerer named Shagreen.

Notes

Trivia

When Dave Cockrum conceptualized the idea of Nightcrawler, he first pitched it to DC Comics as a potential add-on member to the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC rejected the idea, and Cockrum brought his character back to Marvel where he was accepted into the ranks of the Uncanny X-Men. Nightcrawler made his first appearance in Giant-Size X-Men #1.

At one point, Nightcrawler remarks, "Maybe if I told everybody I fell in a ricepicker when I was a child... No, it didn't work for Spock either". This is a reference to the character of Spock from the famous Sci-Fi television series, Star Trek. In an episode entitled, The City on the Edge of Forever, Captain Kirk and Spock travel to 20th century Earth, wherein Kirk has to provide a reason as to why Spock has pointed ears. Pressed for time, he quickly remarks that Spock had fallen into a rice-picker as a child, which disfigured his ears.